Recently, miniaturized digital cameras can take long video images like video cameras by increase of the capacity of recording media (memory card, etc.), and a microphone is equipped on the digital camera in order to record sound at the time of image-taking.
Moreover, many digital cameras adopt a high magnification zoom lens for video image-taking. In this case, a pop-up type lighting unit is adopted so that the flash illuminating light is not blocked by the lens-barrel projected for zooming.
However, in the conventional cameras, especially the digital cameras, from the relation of an arrangement space on the camera, the microphone is installed in a position where it is easy to touch the microphone when the user holds the camera at the time of image-taking, a position near the image-taking lens at the front side of the camera, or a position near an operation button at the upper side of the camera.
Moreover, video camera is proposed by Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2003-101834, in which a microphone is equipped on the upper portion of the pop-up type lighting unit so that the motor noise generated by the main body of the video camera is not recorded by keeping the microphone away from the main body.
In such arrangement conditions of the microphone, a possibility that user's hand and some things will touch the microphone is high. Therefore, a possibility that noise from the microphone itself touched with user's hand, noise from the camera body rubbed with user's hand, operational button's sound, and zoom drive sound from the image-taking lens provided on the front side of the camera body.
Therefore, the problem that the S/N ratio of the original sound at the time of actual video image-taking will get worse.
Moreover, in the case of the arrangement position of the microphone proposed in the above-mentioned Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2003-101834, a possibility that the microphone may break down with shock, etc., when a hand and a thing contact the microphone.
Furthermore, in a case where a lighting unit and a microphone unit are constituted as separated bodies, the pop-up mechanism of the lighting unit becomes complicated and the number of the parts is increased, and therefore the miniaturization of the camera is prevented.
On the contrary, a lighting unit will be enlarged when a lighting unit and a microphone unit are formed in one body.